Diagnosis (genus): Crocodilurus possesses several characters found in no other Teiidae. These include (1) an elongate fifth toe extending beyond the proximal free phalangeal articulation of Toe IV, (2) apical granules on the flanks that point upward and anteriorly from a fold of skin behind each dorsal so that each granule’s pointed apex contacts the apex of the preceding dorsal, and (3) long, styloid apical awns on the hemipenis, each separated from an exceptionally pronounced catchment fold by a deep groove.

Comment

Type species: Crocodilurus amazonicus Spix is the type species of the genus Crocodilurus Spix.

Synonymy: DAUDIN (1802: 87) considered Tupinambis lacertinus (“tupinambis lézardet”) as a synonym of Lacerta bicarinata LINNAEUS 1758 (now: Neusticurus bicarinatus), indicating that he was just redescribing and renaming Lacerta bicarinata.Cuvier (1829) erroneously considered C. amazonicus the same species as Daudin’s lézardet and L. bicarinata LINNAEUS 1758. GRAY (1831: 29) considered L. bicarinata, T. lacertinus, and Crocodilurus amazonicus as identical.Because the description of. T. lacertinus was actually a redescription of L. bicarinata LINNAEUS by DAUDIN (1802), who expressly stated this, the type of L. bicarinata (UUZM 70) automatically also becomes the type for T. lacertinus. However, the specimen on which DAUDIN based his description has to be considered as lost. DE MASSARY & HOOGMOED 2001 therefore suggest to apply the name C. amazonicus to the taxon known as C. lacertinus. The name Tupinambis lacertinus DAUDIN 1802 would therefore beome a synonym of Neusticurus bicarinatus. See DE MASSARY & HOOGMOED 2001 for more details on this issue.

Crocodilurus ocellatus SPIX 1825 is just a young Crocodilurus amazonicus.

Distribution: Not in Guyana (Cole et al. 2013).

Etymology

Etymology (genus): Spix (1825) did not discuss the etymology of Crocodilurus. The name is likely derived from the Greek nouns krokodeilos originally meaning lizard and oura meaning tail. In his generic description, Spix (1825) emphasized characteristics of the tail, which resembles that of crocodilians.

Crump, Martha L. 1971. Quantitative analysis of the ecological distribution of a tropical herpetofauna. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural History, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas (3): 1-62 - get paper here

Gray, J. E. 1831. A synopsis of the species of Class Reptilia. In: Griffith, E & E. Pidgeon: The animal kingdom arranged in conformity with its organisation by the Baron Cuvier with additional descriptions of all the species hither named, and of many before noticed [V Whittaker, Treacher and Co., London: 481 + 110 pp. [1830]

Hoogmoed, M.S., & Lescure, J. 1975. An annotated checklist of the lizards of French Guiana, mainly based on two recent collections. Zoologische Mededelingen 49(13): 141-172. - get paper here